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Rear Adm. Tom Druggan is commander of the 8-Division strong Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) HQ. He leads more than 18,000 scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel located across the United States. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Druggan is a 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and previously commanded the Aegis ballistic missile defense […]

Please explain this, TSA

TSA imagery of backscatter technology that projects low level X-ray beams over the body to create a reflection of the body displayed on the monitor. Blurred images or passengers opting out of the X-ray imaging have been among the reasons given for a series of pat downs that have aroused public anger. Transportation Security Administration image

Ever since I started writing on homeland security issues, I have tried to be fair when it comes to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening. While I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to poke fun at them from time to time, I have tried to take a deep breath and do some additional fact-checking before passing any type of judgment on some of the screening controversies that have plagued the agency over the past few years. The men and women of TSA have an absolutely thankless job doing what they do. Regardless of the circumstance, they’re truly damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

This instance, like some of the other eye-popping and jaw-dropping cases of the past few months and years raises a lot of questions that need to be answered, but I’ll start with a fundamental one first – I’d like to know where this woman, in her obvious feeble condition, ranked on the risk scale that warranted such a search?

Now don’t get me wrong: the hard, cold facts are that terrorists around the world have used young children, pregnant women, mentally handicapped and disabled persons and even elderly people to conduct their operations. The notorious drug cartels are no different in their duplicity in using similar populations for running drugs and guns at various border crossings and other checkpoints. We also know that terrorists have been more than creative in packing explosives in shoes as well as underpants, but somehow this case has tripped every wire of lacking common sense and respect for human decency.

Other questions that should be addressed include:

Did TSA have intelligence that said: “Be on the watch for a packing granny,” that warranted this type of intensive search?

Did an explosive or drug sniffing dog pick up a scent of trace amounts of fertilizer, explosives, or drugs?

Did her preflight behavior broadcast to the screeners: “I’m up to something and you should take another look at me?”

For the life of me I have tried to figure this one out and understand why this woman got this type of screening, and I can’t.

I want to hear the explanation for this case and I want to see if it can be delivered by a TSA leader or spokesperson with a straight face, without any hint of facial discoloration from blushing, or casting their eyes downward in absolute embarrassment at what happened here.

Since I first heard of this story I’ve heard from at least five different people, each of them alarmed at what happened and saying something like, “My God if that were my parent, I don’t know what I would do but I can tell you my mom/dad/family member would probably lose it if they treated her/him like that old woman!”

I can tell you that if that had been an elderly family member of mine getting that type of treatment, I’d probably have been tasered or arrested for having blown my stack at what I can only describe as a humiliating search of someone I cared about.

Again, I’ve long tried to side with and even defend the screeners from the regular pile ons from the media, late night comedians and members of the blogosphere, but in this case I just can’t do it. I know we need our screening techniques to be nimble and flexible, because the threat is still very real and is always dynamic, but in our quest to address those threats and risks we should never lose sight of human dignity and the respect that we should have for one another.

In this country we literally bend over backwards in our politically correct times to be hyper-sensitive to just about everyone, even down to the labels and descriptions we offer of people. But where was the hypersensitivity to this woman as she boarded possibly her last flight to see her family?

While the screeners probably did not know of the terminal condition that this woman was in when they took her to a backroom to screen her, I’m troubled by the fact that one of the last things a 95-year-old, 105-pound woman had to experience in her very rich life was something as demeaning as being essentially strip searched so she could board a plane to say goodbye to her loved ones.

The obligatory TSA explanation to this circumstance says, “We have to treat everyone the same and as a threat, blah, blah, blah. …”

There is no error in making such a statement, but applying it as it was done to this woman is not anchored to any sense of reality or common sense. If we give that up at the airport and in our way of life, bin Laden and his 19 hijackers will have scored a bigger victory than they already achieved, and that’s a victory we cannot allow to happen.

I can honestly say this is one of the many reasons why i am not going to apply for a TSA job, though I’m completely qualified for and probably more than qualified. I am appalled at their actions and reasoning. I want to know if that diaper wa x-ray proof or it showed something more that wasn’t normal. (you know what I mean) I would be consulting with attorneys and talking with the TSA’s supervisors to find some reason behind this that isn’t some booklet response. I am appalled to say the least. Please don’t get going on being political correct, it is one of the many ways that our country has gone downhill and wil be the death of more Constitutional rights in our future. It is getting to the point that I am growing ashamed to be an American.

Rich,
Having been a higher ranking TSA Official, I cannot comment on procedural issues. What I can say is that, yes we are missing the mark on security. There are ways to enhance security. However, the “smoke and mirrors ™” method is a method of perception vs security.

Unfortunately you have to accept there will be some false positives in order to maintain a high detection rate. If the screeners were not able to resolve an unusual ‘lump’ by touch alone they did the right thing investigating it further. If they let a bomb on a plane how would you feel ? The practicalities of a high throughput airport terminal entrance prevent ideal privacy or most efficient 2ndary processing. As a traveller I’m willing to put up with some delay and intrusion into my privacy in order to be safer. The screeners should be commended for their vigilance and TSA needs to continue developing processes that are effective and can’t be abused.

There must have been a better way to resolve any discrepancies seen on the body scan then humiliating the woman. I applaud that the screeners did their job regardless of the passenger, I do believe that terrorists and drug traffickers are capable of using anyone that we may overlook, but surely there is a better way to resolve it then strip searching the woman. Also was this really done in a humiliating manner or is it being made more of after the fact then it really was. Protocol needs to be followed but with just sensitivity to all human rights.